What Blu Ray will test surround speakers

[davlee]

I have high end Focal fronts and centre but am not happy with my surround speakers. I use my Denon 4520 as a 5.1 home theatre movie unit. My retailer has offered for me to try some rear (surround) speakers.

To help with the test, what is the best blu ray movie to use?

 

For example I wish to test something like a plane flying from rear to front and have the sense that it is flying from behind then over my head towards the TV.

 

Can anyone help please?

 

Dave

[Lil Caesar]

Pearl Harbour

[Young Skywalker]

Knowing or Iron Man 3

[Zodiac-12]

Oblivion/Transformers

[betty boop]

I have high end Focal fronts and centre but am not happy with my surround speakers. I use my Denon 4520 as a 5.1 home theatre movie unit. My retailer has offered for me to try some rear (surround) speakers.

To help with the test, what is the best blu ray movie to use?

 

For example I wish to test something like a plane flying from rear to front and have the sense that it is flying from behind then over my head towards the TV.

 

Can anyone help please?

 

Dave

 

Dave what are the focal fronts and centre that you are running ? I run a focal 7.1 system myself

 

re full use of 7.1 you will need tracks with native 7.1 material..there are a few, and a few that give you a full room experience

 

try

 

prometheus

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7145/prometheus.html

 

and 

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/9131/oblivion.html

 

boh have incredible soundtracks and make very good use of full 7.1 tracks so should give the rears a test

[ZEN MISTER]

Two suggestions.

A/ The Jody Foster film " The Panic Room" of several years ago, has a great scene where a gas cylinder goes rogue. The sonics start in the front array, and then pan in a sweeping arc over the listeners head from right rear to left. You are guaranteed to be ducking.

B/ The psychological drama from last year, " Take Shelter", besides being one of the most underrated films of the year, has a dream sequence that features a wall and floor battering sonic barrage that will have you holding your breath- frightening and awesome.

ZM.

[davlee]

Dave what are the focal fronts and centre that you are running ? I run a focal 7.1 system myself

 

The fronts are Electra 1028 Be. They are so fantastic that I wish I had gone all out and had bought the 1038 Be.

 

The centre is the CC1008 Be.

 

I am thinking of upgrading my JBL surrounds with the 1008 Be Focals.

 

Whilst I love the sound of my new system, I have a lot to learn about terms like crossover, hz settings & roll off etc etc

 

I have a largish number of blu ray concerts but now wish to get some crash hot sounding movies. I am also keen to try a 5.1 DTS CD. TV is a new Panasonic 65" VT Plasma.

[betty boop]

dav, very familiar with that speaker set. and its an excellent set of speakers. just to be clear do you have a 5.1 set or 7.1 ?

 

setup of the speakers is important as well. web page below will help as far as positioning to get best from them whether 5.1 or 7.1

 

http://www.dolby.com/us/en/consumer/setup/connection-guide/home-theater-speaker-guide//index.html

 

I myself use the SR1000be for side surrounds but they are quite expensive. while surrounds are important to recreate the surround field if to save cash you could also purchase the s series or lower series side and rear surrounds and will also work in pretty well to suit your mains and centre.

 

with the calibre of speakers you have, can I suggest while the denon avr in the 4520 is an excellent choice. and while quite adequate in the amplification side, I'd encourage you to check out a quality power amp. It will do wonders to bring out the very best from the lovely speaker set you have.

 

I myself run an elektra theatre HD multichannel amp with my focals and they are a beautiful match. theres an elektra going here pretty cheap. 

 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/topic/56524-fs-elektra-theatron-7/

 

if and well budget allows, an upgrade do consider...wont look back

[Zodiac-12]

I think. When we enter to the Home-Theatre  System & Especially if you really want to test out how good your system Set up by yourself.  Then Should try Science-Fiction & some of the Movies the Hollywood Industry made from the comics book, So the Story of the movies is not Important here,Caused you are testing your system only  (may be hire it).

 

So for Example: Spider man 2/3 - Thor - Transformers - Oblivion - Clash of the Titan - The Green Lantern - Fast Furious 5 - Resident Evil Retribution &  for Music Live concert go for Eagles Farewell Tour In Melbourne - Sade Live Bring Me Home - Bee Gees 1 night Only . IMO   

Edited November 1, 2013 by hifiorwife

[davlee]

Thanks to all the replies. I am running the home theatre as a 5.1 system. Unfortunately if I incorporated some side surrounds, they would have to be very close to the listening position. It maybe doesn't matter as I enjoy the direct aspects of a soundstage. Am I wrong here?

Thanks for the info re the power amp. This is the first time I have even heard of one. I am in my 60s and have only recently discovered the absolute joy of great sound.

For music I use the same Electra fronts with Musical Fidelity stereo amp and Musical Fidelity CD player. I run the HT Denon through the HT direct input on the Fidelity amp.

I also play wav & flac files through this amp via a portable hard drive attached to a Cambridge Stream Magic. The results are surprisingly excellent.

 

Do quality rear speakers make much difference in the HT result? The Electra 1008 BE connected to the surround output is what I am going to test. Cost is around $5,500 for them. I quite like the direct sound from rears. Are speakers of the same brand matched better than incorporating a different brand.

 

Thanks for all the Blu ray suggestions. I notice JB have many of them for $9.98, so I am going to get some this arvo.

[Craigandkim]

There is a very good scene in the Book of Eli for surround effects

[henry218]

in surround system it is better to have same speakers or within the same family as you want them to sound the same when moves between speakers.

 

but $5500 for surround is just too much, better spend on subwoofers and mains (Left Center Right), where most information of the soundtrack will come from them. Subwoofers will let you enjoy and get to feel better for action movies.

 

for me, a succesful surround theater system is when you can FEEL the BASS (explosions, planes, the BAT @ dark knight rises, gorilla @ Rise of the Planet of the Apes) literally without leaving your ears humming.

 

the best soundtrack to test the capability of HT is no other than Batman Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises, Underworld Awakening (cheap movie, but Soundtrack to die for), Battle : Los Angeles, Saving Private Ryan (normandy scene) 

 

cheers

henry

[DoggieHowser]

Oblivion has an excellent 7.1 soundtrack that gives the sub and surround a decent workout

[emesbee]

Master and Commander is another good one. Very good use of surround, with timbers creaking all around you.

[Meddi]

I found that matching the rears to the fronts made a huge difference for that panning experience you are hunting for. Not only volume but also the timbre. It seems to trick us into that plane being the same as it pans through the room. If they are not closely matched, it becomes an artifact or new tone as it passes.

 

I personally don't think they have to be too expensive as unless you have a huge dedicated home theatre room they won't be putting out huge volumes.

 

As far as bluerays go, all of the above but my favorite for that panning experience are the newer star wars. They really exagerate the spaceships etc moving about. I'm unsure which one it is, but there's an opening scene where the camera moves down onto a scene of battle amongst lots of space craft and moves through them. Incredible really. Just buy the boxset blueray.

 

Also I prefer having the rears positioned fairly high as well.

 

Rob

[emesbee]

I found that matching the rears to the fronts made a huge difference for that panning experience you are hunting for. Not only volume but also the timbre. It seems to trick us into that plane being the same as it pans through the room. If they are not closely matched, it becomes an artifact or new tone as it passes.

 

I agree with that. When I bought my Gen4 DCXs I moved my older Gen2 model DCXs to the rear (was previously using Gen2 DC7s).  Its a much closer match, and panning is quite seamless (after recalibrating the channel levels in the AVR).

[davlee]

Thanks everyone.

Having Focals up front & JBLs as surrounds is OK, but certainly not seamless. As I only have room for two surrounds (5.1 system) and they have to be near corners 3 metres behind the seating position, I am thinking of getting 'direct' speakers instead of bipole or dipole. The one's I have in mind are the Focal Electra 1008 Be.

Am I correct in thinking this will provide a more precise soundstage?

Would anyone choose the Electra SR 1000 Be instead?

[betty boop]

davlee perhaps need post some pics of the room/setting, might give us some clues. I use the SR1000be myself as side surrounds. if were just using one set of surrounds these are quite flexible in use as each speaker have two set of inputs. ideally they are placed in side or rear location so cant comment as to your setup without seeing. the 1008be as single direct firing speaker would have to be a lot more carefull in location as their sound is a lot more direct.

 

the link I posted in the thread indicate ideal locations of speakers, any deviation from that will be a compromise. but ears and mind is not as well equipped for discerning sound from behind the rears as the front and hence some compromise will not impact massively. 

 

if the be series are an expensive outlay as mentioned already you could also look at focal range speakers below as surrounds they will still blend in very well and do an excellent job

Edited November 10, 2013 by :) al

[davlee]

Thanks to all who replied. I now have many of the Blu rays recommended. I have now ordered the Electra SR 1000be surrounds. The room is an exact rectangle (6m x 3m) and seating position is exact centre longways. The new surrounds have to live in the rear corners. I intend to try them to my current 90cm high stands. If I decide to wall mount them, does it matter how high they go?

[betty boop]

Dave as suggested post some pics . Will help us make suggestions.

Great choice in the SRs they are a very flexible speaker for surround use. Can actually even be used as a 7.1 ! Set using two sets of drivers in the one speaker. Allowing use in either side or back locations.

If possible would resist placing main seating in the centre of the room as not ideal for acoustics. Hence suggest the pics

[davlee]

Dave as suggested post some pics . Will help us make suggestions.

Great choice in the SRs they are a very flexible speaker for surround use. Can actually even be used as a 7.1 ! Set using two sets of drivers in the one speaker. Allowing use in either side or back locations.

If possible would resist placing main seating in the centre of the room as not ideal for acoustics. Hence suggest the pics

The Mrs is o/seas with our only camera, so posting pics easily is a problem for another 3 weeks. The retailer I am purchasing the surrounds from is rather keen that I wall mount them. I have been buying my gear from him since 1984 and so far he hasn't let me down with any recommendations. Wall mount would be difficult unless about 2 metres off the floor. My stands are 90cm high & I can bracket the top of them to the wall to stop movement. He has offered to lend extra cables so I can try as 7.1.

Can a height above ear level be counter productive?

Are you suggesting that sitting further back from the front speakers would produce a better sound stage?

[betty boop]

The Mrs is o/seas with our only camera, so posting pics easily is a problem for another 3 weeks. The retailer I am purchasing the surrounds from is rather keen that I wall mount them. I have been buying my gear from him since 1984 and so far he hasn't let me down with any recommendations. Wall mount would be difficult unless about 2 metres off the floor. My stands are 90cm high & I can bracket the top of them to the wall to stop movement. He has offered to lend extra cables so I can try as 7.1.

Can a height above ear level be counter productive?

Are you suggesting that sitting further back from the front speakers would produce a better sound stage?

 

hi dav, usually sitting 2/3 back in the room tends to work well. i.e. placing  the  main seating position just outside  the equilateral triangle thats made with your main speakers. well this is what have found with my focals

 

i.e. the surrounds, I would wall mount thats what they are designed for. its typical to mount surrounds so the bottom of them are 600mm or 2ft above ear level. 900mm stands would be way too low I would say for a speaker of this type and your retailer is spot on in suggestion

[davlee]

hi dav, usually sitting 2/3 back in the room tends to work well. i.e. placing  the  main seating position just outside  the equilateral triangle thats made with your main speakers. well this is what have found with my focals

 

i.e. the surrounds, I would wall mount thats what they are designed for. its typical to mount surrounds so the bottom of them are 600mm or 2ft above ear level. 900mm stands would be way too low I would say for a speaker of this type and your retailer is spot on in suggestion

Thanks so much for the advice. The SR1000be speakers will arrive sometime next month. In the meantime I would like to be prepared for attaching them to the wall. Can you recommend the best way to do this please? What brackets would you recommend?

Thanks again

[betty boop]

Thanks so much for the advice. The SR1000be speakers will arrive sometime next month. In the meantime I would like to be prepared for attaching them to the wall. Can you recommend the best way to do this please? What brackets would you recommend?

Thanks again

They come with brackets. Very simple to mount. All will need to do is secure the bracket securely to the wall. Best find a wall stud with a stud finder. These are heavy speakers and weigh 15kg each from memory

[jaba010]

Your set up sounds very similar to what I run.  1038be / cc1008 / 1008be rears through a Denon 4520 with Vincent SP T100 driving the 1038s.  I also run a set of 701 ceiling speakers above as well. (Still waiting on my matching sub to arrive from Focal). I am considering a little more power for the fronts and may too go down the music fidelity path with some of their mono blocks.

 

The more hours I get on the Focals the better they sound.

 

The Focals are good allrounders = stereo music & HT.

 

If you want to rattle the windows Top Gun is another movie that makes things work hard.  I love to play blu music concerts through my setup, there is a heap of interesting stuff out there now to favour all variety of tastes.